


With Violets

by BoxOnTheNile



Series: Tío Gabriel AU [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: All my pidges are transgirls, Basically Reaper is Lance's uncle, Basically i threw the Overwatch timeline out the window, Bc i can mostly, Deaf Character, Deaf Hunk, Family Dynamics, Galra Keith (Voltron), Garrison Trio aka the Queer Cadets, I need to be stopped, I will not be stopped tho, Lance is a wreck give that boy a hug, Multi, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Tío Gabriel AU, Written pre season 2 so super non canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-08-14 23:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8033764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoxOnTheNile/pseuds/BoxOnTheNile
Summary: Lance is a Reyes.So that's a thing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this takes place in an interesting au.
> 
> Gabriel and Jack never had a falling out. It was basically propaganda so a dead man took the blame for the explosion at the Swiss Headquarters. They loved each other, and, yanno, talked about how Gabi was hurt and fixed things like a healthy relationship does bc fuck you Blizzard. 
> 
> I don't speak Spanish and I'm not Latina, so if there's anything that isnt right on that front, let me know.

_Lance doesn’t remember the first time he met Jack Morrison, but his favorite memory goes like this:_

_Tío Gabriel was watching him while his mother was in labor with his sister, Felica, and Jack came with him. His first night with the Strike Commander of Overwatch was spent sitting on his shoulders, chubby fingers tangled in his blond hair while he mixed macaroni on the stovetop._

 

 

Shiro stared up in shock, a bruise already blooming across his cheek. Lance breathed heavily, anger boiling in his gut, the black Paladin’s earlier words rattling in his head: _“Overwatch was an Earth operation that collapsed under its own corruption, Allura, corruption spearheaded but by its leader, Commander Morrison-”_

Then Lance's fist hit his cheek and Shiro was knocked to his ass and Lance was _shaking_

Hunk’s hand fell heavy on Lance's shoulder. “Lance?”

“Never,” Lance hissed at Shiro, the accent he worked so hard to lose thick from fury, “ever talk about Jack Morrison like you knew him.”

The room's atmosphere was stifling, and Lance was still trembling, but in his mind he could see the way _Tío_ Gabriel looked at Jack, like Jack was the sun, the way his mamá looked at his father. He could feel Jack’s hand ruffling his hair while he prattled in Spanish that Jack didn't understand while the man humored a five year old still innocent and bright. 

Somewhere along the way, Lance's overactive tear ducts had kicked in, and his cheeks were streaked with angry tears. 

“Lance,” Hunk repeated, firmer. This wasn't the first time Hunk had broken up a fight Lance had picked over Overwatch. “You need to calm down. Go take a breather, okay? I'll explain why you're upset.”

“ _Chingate_ ,” Lance spat before stalking from the room. He could hear Hunk already explaining, his voice low and soothing, but that kicked his temper back up. His mother used to say the Reyes family ran on anger, and he was unlucky enough to get that anger in him. 

He knew the rage would burn itself out soon enough, he could already feel the bone deep weariness that always followed. 

Thank god for Hunk, he thought as he rubbed his cheeks dry. Hunk, who knew the story; who let Lance mourn on the anniversary of the Swiss explosion without judgement; who was telling the others that Jack Morrison had always been family, accepted into the Reyes family long before Lance had been born.

Jesus, Lance missed his uncle. 

The thought stopped him, and his throat tightened. He fumbled for the phone in his pocket and checked the date back home.

Tomorrow was the anniversary. Tomorrow was Lance's nineteenth birthday, marking thirteen years since the death of _Tío_ Gabriel and his fiancé. That helped explain the hair trigger temper. 

Lance tucked himself behind a support column and breathed, sliding to the floor with his legs stretched out in front of him. The anger had mostly bled out of him by that point, and he was just tired and grieving. He should be home, watching the annual remembrance ceremony online while old members he knew- Tracer, Mercy, Jesse- lit candles to place on the base of the memorial statue. 

Pidge tucked herself suddenly into Lance's side, startling him. “I already know,” she said, “I don't need it explained again. Are you alright?”

“My birthday is tomorrow.”

Pidge nodded. “I was only eight months old when Overwatch disbanded, but I was spoon-fed propaganda all my life. Shiro and Keith don't know Overwatch like you, Lance. Don't be too upset with them. Tell ‘em like you told us.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will. Come here, _chula_.”

“ _Chula?_ ”

“Pretty girl,” Lance translated, ruffling Pidge’s hair. “I miss them. You get it, right?”

“I get it. You'd do anything to get them back, right? It's different for me, because I could still get my family back, but…”

“They're gone.” That used to hurt so much to say. Now, it was just hollow. “Mine are just gone.”

Pidge wrapped her arms around him. Lance leaned into her, thought of his little sister Felica. Pidge wasn't much younger than her, maybe two years. After she opened up to them, Lance fell easily into a familiar older brother role. He hoped Matt, when they found him, wouldn't mind.

Hunk peeked into their little nook before shuffling in and settling against the opposite support. Lance could hear rustling to the side; probably the others.

“I'm sorry, Lance,” Shiro told him, and Lance nodded.

“You didn't know,” Lance said flatly, parroting back Pidge’s earlier words. He sighed and pulled his knees to his chest. “Hunk tell you who my uncle was?”

“Gabriel Reyes, leader of Blackwatch.” Keith's voice was… softer than usual. Lance fought down the urge to throw another punch.

“They were gonna get married,” he said instead. “Eventually. I was little, but I knew what rings meant. Tío was in love, anyone could see it. I was four, and I could tell. So when they said Tío planted the bomb? It couldn't be true.” Lance laughed, a bitter sound, and tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. “They died on my birthday. What a celebration.”

“How do you mourn?” Allura’s question was barely louder than the swish of her skirts as she settled to the floor. Lance pulled up a video saved to his phone and passed it to her without a word.

_”Gabriel, put that away.”_

_”No, are you kidding? Strike Commander Morrison, brought down by Rosa’s two month old.”_

_”What if I crush him, Gabe? He's so small, I've never held a baby before, Gabriel, she just handed him to me and walked away GABRIEL THIS ISN'T FUNNY.”_

The video ended there. Apparently, Gabriel had sent it to Lance's mother, who saved it to play every time Jack came to visit. Lance had saved it to his phone first when he was twelve. There was another, of Lance's favorite memory, that played automatically afterwards. 

_”You pull out your phone every time Lance even looks at me.”_

_”Because it is guaranteed to be fucking funny. He's got you wrapped around his fingers, querido. You're making macaroni.”_

_”Mac and cheese!! Ahora, ahora!”_

_”Careful, kiddo, you're pulling my hair.”_

Lance remembered it with as much clarity as a four year old could; sitting on Jack’s shoulders, so close to the ceiling he could touch it, patting his head with every chant of “ahora.” Gabriel joined in after a few repetitions, and Jack’s shoulders quaked with quiet laughter under Lance's pudgy thighs. He'd burned the macaroni, and they ordered pizza.

“I miss them,” he whispered, and Hunk pulled both him and Pidge into a group hug. 

“Last year, for Lance's birthday, we brought ice cream back to our dorm and watch the memorial service livestream. Maybe this year we can light candles ourselves?” Hunk set his chin on top of Lance's head. “And you can tell us about them.”

“I want to know,” Allura admitted. “Shiro was explaining Overwatch’s place in Earth's history when he… misstepped, but I'd like to hear about its leader from someone who knew him.”

“Okay.” Lance's voice was quiet. “Why not? At least more people will remember them right.”

Allura shifted closer, and gestured for Shiro, Coran, and Keith to join her on the floor. Lance waited for them to sit.

“My mamá is a Reyes, which is how I'm related…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold, the grave of a wicked man,   
> And near it, a stern spirit. 
> 
> There came a drooping maid with violets,   
> But the spirit grasped her arm.   
> "No flowers for him," he said.   
> The maid wept:   
> "Ah, I loved him."   
> But the spirit, grim and frowning:   
> "No flowers for him." 
> 
> Now, this is it --   
> If the spirit was just,   
> Why did the maid weep?
> 
> -Stephen Crane


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel? Gabriel. 
> 
> Also, Lance's mom is named Rosa bc I am Dirty Laundry trash, ok. 
> 
> Same disclaimer as last time: I don't speak Spanish and I'm not Latina, so if I mess up something, let me know.

Inhale. Exhale, watch wisps of smoke rise and curl. Inhale. 

His heart beat, sluggish, a sorry attempt at pushing blood more nanotech than plasma.

Exhale, watch the smoke twined in his breath. The bed against his back grounded him as he held himself solid.

Not many members of the new Overwatch had family Talon could find, but Gabriel’s sister and her household numbered among them. They were being brought to the base for safety, Angie fetching them herself to best explain what Gabriel was now. 

Felica was fifteen now, and there were two more girls, an eleven year old named Elena and an eight year old named Sara. Lance was nineteen as of last week. 

He still had family. It was a strange thought. 

His comm on the bedside table buzzed. “Gabriel? Rosa, Andrés, and their girls are here. Rosa’s already asking for you.”

Beat.

A curl of smoke wrapped around the comm, bringing it closer. “I'll be right down, Jesse. Jack getting mobbed?”

“Rosa is fussing, like usual. The girls don't really know him.”

“And Lance?”

“He's not here.”

Gabriel sat bolt upright, smoke wisping off his skin. He didn't bother answering, just let himself dissolve to move faster. He forced his cells back together outside of the control room, where he could hear Rosa’s voice. He pushed the doors open. “Where's-”

“Gabriel!” Rosa shoved herself away from Jack and slammed into Gabriel’s chest. “You are alive, thank God.”

“Rosa.” Gabriel help the smaller woman to his chest. “Rosa, where's Lance? I see your daughters, but where is he?”

“ _Hermano_ is gone,” the smallest girl, Sara, piped up. “He was going to school in America, then they said he was missing. He didn't call on my birthday.”

“Gone?” Gabriel echoed. “When?”

“Eight months ago,” Andrés, Rosa’s husband, said. “Before the Omniums started again, so not Talon. He texted us two days before he was reported missing, said his school was up to something and apologized, saying he would probably be expelled. Then, the Garrison told us he was missing, that they were conducting a search. We haven't heard anything since.”

“We wrote the Embassy, the American government, everyone we could think of,” Rosa whispered. “But by now, there's almost no chance of him being found. My boy is gone.”

Behind Gabriel, Jesse’s boot spurs jingled. “Garrison. The Galaxy Garrison? The pilot school?”

“He was so excited when he got the acceptance letter. He started a year later than most, because we spent the whole year applying for scholarships and saving for his visa and passport. We were so proud of him.” Rosa sniffled, then fished for her phone. Like Gabriel, she was notorious for taking videos. 

_”Put that away, mamá. I'm not leaving forever.” Lance, tall and lanky, looked up from packing a suitcase, dark blue eyes sparkling with excitement. “I'll be back at Christmas to renew my visa.”_

_”Hush, mijo. Your stars are still on the ceiling.” The camera panned up to show cheap plastic stars stuck to the plaster._

_Lance wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue. “I'm seventeen, Mamá. I don't need glow in the dark stars to sleep anymore.”_

_”They were a gift from Jack, take them with you.”_

_”Fine, fine. Put your phone away, though, I don't need video of me falling on my ass.” He pulled a rolling office chair to the center of the room, and Rosa shrieked at him to stop as the video cut out._

“What did the text say?” Gabriel asked. Rosa took a moment to find it, and passed her phone back to him. The text was in Spanish, so Gabriel translated in his head before reading it aloud. “Mamá, school is up to something, could be bad. Going to find out. Sorry if I get expelled. Don't call, I'll let you know what's up.”

“He never sent anything else,” Andrés’ voice shook. “And we can't report the Garrison; all we have is a text from a nineteen year old.”

Exhale, a heavy stream of black smoke bitter on his tongue. “Jack, I'm investigating this Garrison. I'm going to find my nephew.” He didn't wait for an answer, just turned for the door. Rosa’s hand on his arm made him pause.

“Be safe,” she begged. “I just got you back. Just… just find my boy.”

“I will,” he promised. 

 

 

It was ridiculously easy to connect Athena to the Garrison servers and set her to looking for all of Lance's records: everything from his grades to every time a camera picked up his face. It only took the AI a moment, then they were gone.

 

Athena sorted through the data back at the Overwatch base, discarding irrelevant information. Eventually, she grabbed Gabriel’s attention. “Reaper, I found something you might be interested in. It was in Mr. McClain’s file, heavily encrypted.”

“Display,” he said, and, moments later, “Call Jack and my sister. They need to see this.”

The two watched the security footage. When Lance pushed into the frame- _”No, no, no. I'm saving Shiro”_ \- Rosa burst into tears.

“Aliens?” Jack questioned while Andrés consoled his wife. “Honestly, I'm not even surprised anymore. The Shimadas have dragons, this might as well happen.”

“So you believe it?” Gabriel asked. 

“It's no weirder than the other shit we've dealt with. You eat souls, Gabe.”

Gabriel conceded that; Jack had a fair point. “Now, for my other question: What the fuck is a Voltron?” 

“The way that Shiro talked about it, it sounds like a weapon. But why would an alien weapon be on Earth?”

“This is the weirdest fucking conversation I've ever had. _Cojeme_. Okay, do we look for this Voltron? If aliens are a threat, we could use their own weapon against them, or at least destroy it so they can't use it. Maybe Lance found it?”

“I believe so,” Athena chimed in. “I found the GPS record of Mr. McClain’s mobile phone. It ascended rapidly into the atmosphere before leaving satellite range.”

“He's in space?” Rosa wailed.

Gabriel’s heart stopped, it's normal sluggish rhythm stuttering to a halt. 

Lance was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions? Concerns? Want background info I haven't covered? My tumblr is onthenilerivah.tumblr.com. I take prompts and talk about my gf.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go.
> 
> Thanks to NaGaKi108 for help with my Spanish.

Lance was honestly proud of Pidge at the moment. The little _bruja_ was spitting and swearing in a way that made him burn with pride, fighting in her captor's arms so they had to work for every step. To be fair, Lance was doing the same, angry Spanish layering over furious English in a symphony of profanity. It made the whole “captured by Galra” thing slightly less shitty. 

Not that they were really intimidating anymore. The instincts and senses of Keith's galra half were catlike. Pidge had several sonic grenades set to a pitch that had Keith shrieking hidden on her person, she just had to get them.

At least this had been a mission where they left their lions. Silver lining and all that. 

At the present moment, though, Pidge was dropping the delightful term “thundercunt” while Lance threatened to shit on everything that moved. It was glorious, except for the whole captured part. 

The drones shoved them bodily into an empty cell and locked them in, Lance shouting a final _”ve a tomar por culo”_ after them. 

“What ‘chu got,” Lance asked. Ever since his birthday three months ago, he'd been more and more comfortable with the relaxed vernacular he used back in Cuba. 

Pidge turned her back to the camera their helmet displays pointed out. “Three sonic grenades and Rover's memory chip. My bayard was stowed, but the fuckin’ energy surge they hit me with disabled the summoning… thing. Too mad to remember what it's called.”

“Can't get mine either, _chula_ , but I keep my switchblade from home in my boot, and I don't think they realize we keep other weapons.”

Pidge chewed on her tongue, her eyes darting around the room. “Give me your knife. Hunk is our engineer, but if I can get into the door panel, I might be able to get it open.” She scratched at her chin and frowned at the few coarser hairs she found there, then shook her head rapidly. “Plan now, dysphoria later,” she muttered to herself. 

Lance dug the knife from his boot while Pidge shoved down her dysphoria. He'd teach her to shave when they got out of here, he promised himself. Pidge snatched the knife from his hands.

“Cover the camera, cover the camera, what the fuck am I doing,” she sang. She tended to do that when she was nervous. “How do I trigger a command signal?”

Lance shifted to shield her hands from the camera, praying to God and half wishing for his father's rosary. 

Hunk was still working out the kinks in his new Balmera powered hearing aids, so he might not have heard Pidge’s violent cursing when she and Lance had been found by the enemy. Keith and Shiro were still in the Castle, in orbit, so there was no telling when they would arrive. It was likely they were on their own. 

Pidge yanked her hand away from wiring with a yelp, nearly dropping the knife. “Shit! Good news: found the right circuit. If I can break it, the door should open.”

“Pidge!”

“Okay!” She sealed her armor. “Hope you're not attached to this,” and she shoved the knife in the panel. Her suit dispersed most the electricity, but enough worked its way to her skin to leave her shaking and swearing. 

The door slid open halfway before it sparked and died.

Lance moved, grabbing Pidge and throwing her over his shoulder. She was already fishing a grenade out from under her breastplate. Hunk’s foresight and insulated casing was forever saving their asses, because the electricity would have detonated them otherwise. 

“Control room!” Pidge shrieked. “We need information on-”

“Your family!” Lance finished. That was the whole purpose of this mission, but the base was supposed to be abandoned, not crawling with drones and soldiers. 

The comms in their helmets finally, finally crackled to life. “Lance, Pidge, report.”

“Everything is fucking awful, Shiro.” Pidge lobbed a grenade at a group of Galra soldiers behind them. The earsplitting whine was annoying to humans, but agonizing for Galra behind them.

The warning blinking on Lance's HUD shut off, and he cursed. He could summon his bayard, but he needed both hands to use it. “Shiro, we need backup of the robot lion variety. My husband would be welcomed.”

Despite the situation, Pidge snickered. Lance and Keith had been “married” during an alien ceremony five weeks ago, and Lance refused to let it go. 

“On my way.” There was a low rumble in Keith's voice, a growl made possible by his Galra genes. 

“Thanks boo- son of a whore!” He dropped to the floor, wincing at Pidge’s shout of pain, but the blaster shot flew over them. A second later, the electrified cord of her bayard shot out and fried the guilty drone. Lance rolled off her and got to his feet, summoning his own bayard.

The control room was just down the hall. Lance shot his bayard, taking down several more drones before pulling up his shield and charging forward. He was too small to really tank, but he knocked over two drones, throwing them back far enough for Pidge to safely tackle one to the floating bots out of the air. She ripped out its memory chip and shoved Rover's in its place, and the lights turned blue.

“Rover, the door!”

The bot beamed the door open, and Pidge grabbed the handle on the back of Lance's armor to pull him in. She told Rover to scan the computers for any mention of humans, Earth, or even Shiro before wrestling off Lance's helmet.

He'd taken a bad hit in his melee attempt, and his eyes refused to focus on her. He could feel throbbing on the left side of his face from his temple to his jaw. Blue was insistent in the back of his mind, her presence heavy with worry.

Pidge skated her fingers across the flesh there, and her glove came away red. “Shiro, you there?”

“We’re here.”

“We need one hell of an extraction. Lance has a concussion, bad, and we're pinned down. We got the information we need, but I think this is a trap.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Keith grunted. “But probably not for the same reason. I'll explain when we're back at the Castle.”

“ _Estoy bien,_ ” Lance murmured, pushing at Pidge’s hands as she made him sit. 

“Yeah, say that in English and I'll believe you.”

“Was that not English?”

“Pick up in five, stay put,” Keith said. “I refuse to be a widow.”

 

 

“It was an obvious trap,” Keith insisted later. Coran was gently dabbing the split skin along Lance's hairline, and the Blue Paladin had one hell of a shiner forming. “A supposedly deserted base, crawling with drones and apparently holding the information we'd go searching for? And that's not the worst part.” Keith dropped to sit next to Lance, placing his gloved hand over Lance's fingers. “It was too easy to get you out. Mistakes I've never seen them make before, hesitation, no strategy… they wanted us to get what we came for, and they let us go.”

“I think I know why,” Pidge spoke up. “My laptop just finished the translation program.” She lifted her eyes from the screen, expression grim. “They wanted us to know they found Earth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyyyyyy *finger guns out*
> 
> Ve a tomar por culo- take it up the ass


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: For a brief amount of time, Pidge is misgendered. She corrects Gabriel when he uses masculine terms, but he does refer to her as male for a while.

Gabriel struggled with the urge to slam his face repeatedly against a wall. 

There they were- two of the missing Garrison cadets, Pilot Shirogane, and some mulleted jackass- caught snooping around the Gibraltar base, _and Lance wasn't with them._ He wanted to scream, demand to know where his nephew was, but Jack was heading the interrogation on the other side of glass. The group had been stripped of their helmets and, in one case, eight different sonic grenades.

“We just want to know why you're here,” Jack insisted. “There's not many reasons to go snooping around an old Overwatch base, and even fewer that are legal.”

“So why are you here?” the little one in green, Gunderson, asked. “I'm sure it's _so_ legal, old man.”

“Pidge,” Shirogane scolded gently. The boy huffed, and Shirogane turned his attention back to Jack. “Overwatch’s global surveillance equipment is still usable. We need it.”

“For?”

“The impending alien apocalypse,” Gunderson drawled mockingly. “Not that you believe that.”

Jack leaned back, posture open and inviting. Gabriel almost smiled; that was a technique Blackwatch used to use. “Try me.”

“An alien empire that conquered most of the known universe has turned its eyes to Earth,” the boy in red deadpanned. He was infuriating- he'd been in the video recovered from the Garrison, but there were no other records Athena could find. Lance had called him Keith on the recording, but beyond that, he was a ghost. 

Jack nodded. “The ones mentioned in the security footage.”

“What security footage?” Shirogane demanded.

Athena started playing the footage in the room instantly, muted. “This footage. We were… interested in the disappearance of the Garrison cadets.”

“Because of Lance.” The last member of the group spoke, his hands shaping signs as he spoke. Gabriel remembered his file- Hunk Garrett, Hawaiian, functionally Deaf. He was probably signing his words. “I mean, you're Overwatch, right? Yeah? Some of you probably remember Lance and tried to find him.”

Silence stretched for a second, for two. “Yes. Where is he? He went missing the same time you did.”

“He didn't come with us because of a concussion,” Garrett explained. “He's fine, we just wanted to be safe.”

Gabriel hit the intercom button. “Where?”

Gunderson signed something at Garrett before answering. “Yeah, _fuck_ no. I ain't telling shit to some fucker I can't see.”

“Pidge!” Shirogane said again.

“No, I can respect that,” Gabriel replied. “ _Chico_ has a point.”

“I prefer _chica_. Lance uses Spanish enough that I know masculine forms when I hear them.”

So Gunderson’s records had birth sex instead of actual gender. Fair enough. 

The path from Observation to Interrogation was meters long, and Gabriel adjusted his beanie before stepping in. “Sorry. _Chica_ , then. Your records say male.”

“My Garrison records are fake. I like Pidge, though. You should use it.”

Oh, he liked her. “Pidge. So, you can see me. Where's Lance?”

“Hold on, Pidge.” Keith pushed off from where he'd been leaning against the wall, stepping into Gabriel’s personal space. His eyes were dark… violet? “I have a question first. Why did you let Lance think you were dead?”

“Keith?” Shirogane asked. 

“Lance's nose matches his, and Lance always says he got his nose from his mother. The only person on his mother's side that would be this age is his uncle. So, Gabriel Reyes, tell me: Why did you let him think you were dead?”

“You motherfucker!” Pidge screeched, attempting to launch herself across the table, but Keith grabbed a protruding part of her armor. “You cock juggling, cunt eating, whore mouthed ass table!”

“Ass table?” Gabriel echoed. 

“Shut the fuck up,” she hissed. “You made Lance cry, more than once, and anyone who does that deserves… Ugh!”

Keith shifted his grip on her armor and glanced at Jack. “Jack Morrison?”

He sighed. “You got me.”

“Thought so. We need our helmets back. They have our communicators.”

“And then?” Gabriel pressed.

“Then,” Shirogane took over, “we tell the rest of our allies, Lance included, that we're fine _before_ they come get us. You meet them on our turf, and we work out an arrangement.”

Jack and Gabriel met eyes. They didn't know these people, didn’t know if they could trust them, but they knew where Lance was. 

“Deal. Gabriel, have Genji bring their helmets from lockup.”

Genji and Jesse slipped into the room five minutes of stony silence later, taking more space in an already crowded room. 

Garrett put his on immediately. “Pidge, hand me your helmet. I bet I can make it broadcast so they can hear. I'd use mine, but-”

“Closed Captioning for the Deaf,” Gunderson finished automatically. “Yeah, here.”

Garrett set the green helmet on the table a moment later. “Okay.”

Half a second later, the comm kicked on. “-swer in fifteen ticks Lance is going-”

“Don't let Lance do anything, Allura,” Shirogane cut off.

The woman on the other side sighed in relief. “Shiro, thank goodness. Are you safe? You were captured, we were so worried.”

“We’re fine, Princess,” Gunderson said. She was still glaring at Gabriel. 

“The people using the base are listening in, Allura,” Shirogane reported. 

“I see.” The tone stift was immediate. One moment, this Allura had been fretting; the next, her voice had hardened into something sharp and dangerous. “Have you harmed my Paladins?”

“No.” Jack’s voice took on a similar tone. “We want to speak with you. Shirogane told us you wanted to use our surveillance system?”

“This should happen in person, once my Paladins are returned. Then we will speak. Shiro, is there space for the Castle to land?”

“Yes.”

“Then we will be there soon.”

 

The ship- the castle?- was enormous, sleek white, and settled right in front of the base. All of Overwatch was lingering to look, eyes locked on the main doors. Gabriel, Jack, and the ‘paladins’ stood in a small group to the side, waiting for the dust to settle. 

Shirogane led the way up to the doors, and they slid open, huge and whisper quiet. A small, floating robot darted from the shadows to flit around Gunderson’s head, and she reached up to pat it gently. 

Shirogane guided them into what Gabriel guessed was the bridge. An imposing dark-skinned woman was there, her white hair pulled up into a bun, the pink accents on her armor matching the marks on her cheeks.

Gabriel spoke first. “Where's Lance?”

She sized him up for a moment. “Lance is conflicted. He was angry at your deceit, rightfully so. He will see you when he's ready.”

“Garrett said he was concussed.”

“Garrett? Oh, Hunk. Yes, but it is mostly healed now. Him staying was mostly a precaution.”

“Good. Why the fuck did you kidnap him?”

“We weren't kidnapped,” Keith snapped. “We chose to stay.”

“Why?” Jack asked, confused.

He didn't get an answer because a man skidded in at that moment. “Code Blue, Lance worked himself into a fit! Keith, it's gonna get loud.”

“Fuck yeah it's gonna get loud, and Shiro, I swear to God, if you stop me, we will find a new meaning for using quiznak wrong, hear me?” 

And there was Lance, dressed casually, half his face mottled purple, one eye swollen closed, and an expression of fury on his face. “I'm gonna keep this in English because I need everyone to understand how fucking furious I am right now. _How dare you?_ How _dare_ you make Mamà cry like she did? How _dare_ you make us bury you when you were alive!” Tears built up at the corners of his eyes. “I defended you against the people who called you liars, _how dare you make them right._ ” His hands shook as he took deep, heaving breaths, face screwed up in rage.

“You grew up,” Gabriel whispered. “You grew up, look at you.”

“Fuck you,” Lance spat. The tears crested and slid down his cheeks. “You better have a damn good explanation, but I don't wanna hear it right now. Okay? We came back with a mission.” He rubbed his face with the sleeve of his jacket. 

Jack placed a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Okay. The surveillance system.”

“The surveillance system,” The white haired woman agreed. “And perhaps introductions? I know your names through Lance, but I am Princess Allura of Altea, and this is my advisor, Coran. We just need to connect the Castle computer to your surveillance system, and we can monitor from orbit if necessary. The Galra are coming, and we need to be able to find them.”

“Galra?” Jack asked. 

“Alien apocalypse,” Gunderson said again. For some reason, Lance shuffled over to press his arm against Keith's. 

“Alright.” Jack nodded. “Welcome to Gibraltar, Miss Allura.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's stuff for this au on my blog. Onthenilerivah.tumblr.com, tagged tio gabriel au


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this is gay. I'm not sorry.
> 
> Updates might be a little slower for a bit, I just bought Overwatch. I main Zenyatta, Xbox live name is the same as my username on here.

Lance startled out of his doze when a warm weight tucked against his side.

“Thought I'd find you here,” Keith muttered. Lance rolled onto his back and pulled Keith up on his chest, the red paladin burrowing his face into Lance's shirt. “You're always tired after fits like that.”

“Fit.” Lance cringed. “It was pretty childish, huh?”

“Maybe, but that doesn't mean it was uncalled for.” It was hard to tell in the dim lighting of the nest-den-thing Keith had turned his bed into, but Lance was pretty sure Keith shifted forms. His hunch was proven right when glowing yellow peeked from beneath Keith's bangs. “You were upset, and you've been furious at lesser slights.”

“The others calling you a traitor is not a lesser slight and I'm still not sure I've forgiven them.”

“Lance.”

“You're half galra, not our enemy.”

“And they lied to you for thirteen years.”

Lance lifted a hand to rub at one velvety, purple ear. “I hate it when you're right, babe.”

“That much hate isn't good.”

Lance laughed quietly, then sighed. “I'm fucking ecstatic, Keith. I am. I loved them so much. But I don't know if I can face them.”

“Because they hurt you?”

“Because I won't be able to _leave_. I already want to cling to them and never let go. What if _Tío_ -” Lance stopped, breathed, started over. “What if he tells Mamá? Keith, if I see Mamá, or my sisters… I won't be able to go.”

“I don't think you give yourself enough credit, _jagiya_.”

Lance smiled softly at the endearment. (Keith claimed once that he couldn't remember exactly what it meant, but his mother used to call his father that with love in her eyes. A few weeks later, he'd slammed his fist against the table in the middle of dinner and shouted “It means darling!”)

“I think you give me too much, _querido_.”

Keith's ribs pressed more firmly to Lance's stomach, and he started to purr. The sound and vibrations eased the tension still in Lance's muscles, and the two dozed for several minutes. 

“Tell me about Gabriel? You talk about your parents and sisters a lot, but you haven't talked about him since your birthday.”

“He's… he was great. I love him, Keith, and I missed him, Jesus Christ did I miss him. And Jack, you never had one without the other. I want to just… They're _alive_ , Keith, I should be happy, but I'm just so angry they lied to me, to Mamá. I…”

“You trusted them,” Keith finished. “And when your trust is broken, it takes a long time to fix.”

“Yeah. _Ai, cojeme._ I should go hear them out.”

“Not yet,” Keith muttered, snuggling up so his head tucked under Lance's chin. “It's late, and you're still tired. They'll be there tomorrow.”

 

Lance padded into the castle's dining room the next morning and stopped short. 

_’Not dream’_ Hunk signed, mouth full of scrambled eggs. _’[hat tip motion] brought food’_

“Who?” Lance asked, signing the word as well as speaking.

“I think that hat tip meant me. He's been usin’ it quite a bit since I got here.”

“Jesse!” Lance near tackled the pseudo cowboy from his seat.

“Good lord, boy, your face!” Jesse held Lance at arm's length, eyes sharp under the brim of his hat. “Sweet jesus, when did you get hurt?”

“Three~? Days ago? Days are weird in space. It looks worse than it is, and the concussion is mostly cleared up by now. It's turning green at the edges, it's so gross.” Lance poked the spot near his eye that had been nearly black last he checked. “There's more important things going on right now. Like bacon, holy shit.” He lunged for the plate, nearly tipping over Pidge’s coffee cup.

“Watch it, assmuffin,” Pidge snapped, cradling the mug to her chest.

Lance signed his apology, bacon already hanging from his mouth. 

Shiro chuckled softly from his seat next to Hunk. “Keith up yet?”

“He told me to fuck my quiznak when I pushed him off me, so that's in the air. Can I fuck my fuck? Is that possible? This is important.”

“Why was he on you in the first place?”

Anger flared in Lance's chest for half a second before dying out. “Because, Gabe, he's been my boyfriend for seven months? Because when there's someone with him he sleeps for more than four hours? Maybe because I love the fuck out of him and like to feel him breathing?”

“Still mad?”

He sighed. “A little. I'm… still not ready to talk about it with you. Does Mamá know?”

“She does. She told us you were missing three months ago. We were afraid it was Talon for a minute.”

Lance stuffed more bacon in his mouth. “The fuck’s a Talon? I mean, I heard that capital letter.” He sat heavily in an empty chair.

“Later,” Jesse interrupted loudly. “Breakfast first, then I gotta meet the boyfriend a’ yers.”

“I fucking hate your accent this early,” Pidge mused into her coffee. Lance broke into snickers.

“I missed something,” came a sleepy voice from the doorway. Keith shuffled in, his mullet ruffled and sticking up. “What did I miss?”

“Just Pidge, _querido_. Good morning.”

“No mornings in space.”

“We’re not in space, babe.”

Keith blinked blearily. “Holy shit.”

“You're a mess. Go get some water.”

Keith did no such thing, of course, and instead draped himself over Lance's back. “There's people.”

“Yep.”

“I don't like it.”

“Of course you don't, baby.”

Keith shoved him to the floor.

“That's fair.” Lance told him. “Give me more bacon?” Keith dropped a piece on his face. “That's also fair.”

“This is normal,” Shiro said. There was a stiffness to his voice saying he didn't quite trust the others.

“Where's Allura and Coran?” Keith asked, sitting in Lance's chair. He set one bare foot on Lance's stomach. 

“Morrison took ‘em to hook their systems up to ours. Athena’ll feed surveillance data through a couple ‘a extra filters now and send anything yer lookin’ for to yer computers here.”

“No, please, shut the fuck up,” Pidge said emphatically. 

Lance couldn’t help it; for the first time in almost a year, he laughed until his sides hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cojeme- fuck me
> 
> Questions? Prompts? Just wanna say hi? Hmu at onthenilerivah.tumblr.com


	6. Chapter 6

Gabriel was about three seconds from punching Jack. Yeah, he loved the stupid white boy, but he was a _stupid white boy_. 

“If we're going to work with you,” he had said to Allura when he'd returned with her to the spaceship/castle/whatever the fuck, “We need to see how you and your team handle yourself in combat.”

So there they were, observing the training grounds while the five “Paladins” faced off against Lena, McCree, Zenyatta, Genji, and Mei. 

Next to Gabriel, Allura spoke into the Paladin’s comm channel. “Lance, you're the one with experience here. How do they fight, and how do we beat them?”

Lance's voice was confident. “I don't know two of them, probably new. Genji, the cyborg? Traditional Japanese training, he demonstrated for me when I was twelve. Shuriken, and he can deflect projectiles. Id say… Shiro. Pidge’s bayard could actually hurt him with the electricity and shit.

“McCree uses a revolver. Mid range, I think? If Keith gets up close, we have the best chance of taking him down.

“Tracer, in the leather jacket? Pidge, immobilize her. She's fast, so we have to pin her down.

“Hunk and I are ranged, so we'll cover you and keep an eye on the others.”

“And I'll keep watch from up here and guide you,” Allura finished. “This is just like any other training exercise, Paladins. Work together; just because Voltron isn't here doesn't mean you can let your teamwork fall apart. Protect each other.” She nodded to Jack, and he hit the buzzer and started the match. 

Keith darted forward into McCree’s space, the odd handle in his hand lengthening into a sword in a flash of light. Immediately, McCree’s voice called over the comms, “Red doesn't like bright light.”

Allura bared her teeth, but all had agreed to keep information on the opposite channel away from their team.

Keith, however, echoed McCree’s statement. “They know about my eyes.”

“Seal your helmet!” Lance yelled, abandoning his post taking potshots at Mei. “Keith, seal your helmet, he might have a flashba-”

But McCree had already combat rolled away, dropping a flashbang as he went. It detonated… and Keith screamed.

The boy dropped like a stone, gloved hands clawing at his helmet like he was trying to remove his eyes. Every other Paladin beelined to his side, forming a defensive perimeter around both Keith and Lance, the latter babbling in Spanish as he tried to keep Keith's hands away from his face.

Allura was out the door of the observation deck, Gabriel and Jack on her heels. Gabriel swore and let himself dissolve into smoke, passing the alien and ghosting down the stairs. He reformed by his agents. “Stay back. Whatever is going on, they know what they're doing. Lance tried to warn him, so this isn't new.”

“Jesus Christ,” Jesse said softly. “Reyes, I don't know what- it shouldn't be strong enough to do this, my training flashbangs just stun, I didn't mean to-”

“Jesse,” Genji interrupted. “I doubt this is your fault. That flash was weak, and the sound was barely loud enough to hurt. It would not have caused this on any normal person.”

“Gabriel,” Jack called from his spot with the Paladins. Gabriel hurried to his side, the other agents just behind him. 

His heart stopped for a moment. 

Someone had gotten Keith's helmet off. The boy was pressing his hands to eyes and whimpering, but that wasn't what shocked Gabriel. He was purple, his fingers tipped with claws, and large furry ears sprouted from the top of his head. Lance was rubbing one of those ears, murmuring quiet promises of safety. 

“Hurts,” Keith whined.

“I know, kitten, I'm sorry, _lo siento_ , it'll stop, I promise, I'm sorry-”

“What the fuck,” Gabriel breathed, and that seemed to snap Lance into motion. He snatched his own handle-thing off the ground and a rifle shimmered into existence, pointed directly at Gabriel himself. He could see how Lance's hands shook.

“Don't touch him,” Lance spat, trembling, but this wasn't anger; it was fear. 

_Seven months ago and right now, Jack stood between Gabriel and the rest of Overwatch. “Don't touch him! He saved me, I won't let you hurt him!”_

He stepped towards his nephew. “Lance, we're not going to hurt him, _comprende? Yo prometo._ It's okay, _niño._ ”

Slowly, slowly, the rifle lowered. “He's not… I trust him.”

“You trust him,” Gabriel repeated. “That's all I need. Do we need to move him?”

Lance nodded. “Dark and quiet, preferably a small space.”

“The sinks in the locker room ‘ave a counter next to ‘em.” Lena chirped, her accent heavy with worry. “Jamieson likes to tuck up under it when ‘e’s overwhelmed. Would that work?”

Lance shook his head. “Too far. I need… Jesse, give me your shitty poncho.”

“It's a serape,” McCree corrected, but he was already unwrapping the fabric. Lance snatched it from his hands, coaxed Keith into a sitting position, and draped the serape over his head so his eyes were shadowed.

Keith moved his hands and opened his eyes into a squint. They were flat yellow, pupil-less, and appeared to glow softly. 

“There he is,” Lance whispered. “Hey, sweetheart, you better?”

“Yes. No. Still hurts.”

“Yeah, but you're not trying to claw your ears off. I call that a win.”

Gabriel inched forward and offered Keith his hand. Those yellow eyes stared up from under the hem of the serape. Tentatively, the boy took it, and Gabriel pulled him to his feet. “Lance was quick to assume the worst.”

“I'm Galra,” Keith said, voice low and hoarse. He was scared, too. “Our enemy.”

“We have the last surviving Bastion unit, the heir to a Japanese crime family, and a literal gorilla in Overwatch, not to mention me. You've got nothing to worry about from us, Jack and I have already realized this might as well happen. Our lives are fuckin’ weird. We'll pull McCree, sub another agent, and try this again when you're good, huh, _guero_?”

“Um, I am offended?” Lance said. “You're dating the white boy. Keith's human half is Korean.”

“Half human. Not some kind of disguise?” Jack stepped to Gabriel’s side; Keith tensed, and Lance's grip on his rifle shifted.

“It's a long story.” Keith glanced down, then quickly back up, probably not willing to take his eyes off them yet. Both he and Lance were still on edge.

Jack gestured to the building behind them. “We can make time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo prometo- I promise   
> Guero- white boy, roughly. Gabriel is in denial. No one is whiter than Jack, Gabe. Jack is whiter than _me_. Commander White Bread.
> 
> Heyo, I can't decide whether to put the explanation in the next chapter or do a separate oneshot. Lemme know what you think.
> 
> As always, questions? Concerns? Want to know more about this au? I can be found at onthenilerivah.tumblr.com.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took ten years, sorry.
> 
> I fucking love Zenyatta, guys, holy shit.
> 
> With Violets is officially part of a series! Go check out "Sir, I Exist" before reading this, as it is referenced a few times.

The Overwatch common room was nice enough, Lance supposed, but the amount of people was worrying. Some were gaping openly at Keith, Allura, and Coran, which had him on edge. The Alteans could take care of themselves, but past experience had shown Lance that Keith might just _let_ these people attack him.

Jack had decided two minutes into Keith's explanation that he wanted the rest of Overwatch to hear, so here they were, Keith fidgeting uncomfortably under sixteen strangers’ gazes.

The red paladin swallowed, pressed himself a little closer to Lance. “You don’t owe them shit,” Lance reminded, loud enough everyone could hear. 

“If they're gonna help us, they deserve to know,” Keith answered, but there was a tiny tremor in his voice. Lance gently shifted their position so Keith was closer to the door and slightly behind him.

It took a moment, then, “I'm half human. My mother was Anna Kogane, a Korean pilot in the Omnic Crisis. She was stationed in Nevada, near the Galaxy Garrison, a remote post on the edge of Omnium territory. She watched a ship she'd never seen get shot down one day, but she felt like she had to check for survivors. 

“There was one, badly injured, and while he wasn't Omnic, he certainly wasn't human. Mom still felt like she needed to help him, so she brought him back to her safehouse. 

“When he woke up, he yelled at her that he was Thace and that her planet belonged to the Galra Empire. She punched him in the face. I was born four years later.”

“That's it?” a voice in the back piped up. “There's got to be a story there? Why would he come in the first place.”

“The blue lion, probably,” Pidge drawled, vaguely condescending. Shiro elbowed her gently, and she sighed. “Fine. There was a fuckin’ rad alien weapon hidden on Earth forever ago and they wanted it. Still want it.”

“They'll pry Blue from my cold, dead hands,” Lance hissed. In the back of his mind, Blue rumbled her agreement. Lance nearly shivered at the power he felt from her, fierce and colossal. Their enemies would fall under teeth and claws and-

“Lance.” Keith touched his arm gently, pulling him back. “You did the… the thing, again.”

“Ya went blank,” Jesse said. He was looking at Lance warily and fidgeting. “Like ya checked out. I ain’t ever seen you like that.”

“The Paladins share a psychic bond with their lions,” Coran explained. “Sometimes, the line between lion and Paladin blur- especially the Blue Paladin, due to the nature of their bond and their shared core value.”

“What do you mean by lion?” Jesse inched closer to Lance, and Keith grabbed the back of Lance's armor. Jesse noticed and took a step back, tilting his hat at Keith. “Sorry, kiddo. Didn't mean to startle ya.”

Allura spoke up, sheepish. “Perhaps I should show you why the Paladins are needed.”

 

The Lion's hangar was enormous, designed so the sentient warships could move if they so chose. Lance had seen it dozens of times, so it barely phased him. Instead, he made a beeline for Red and Blue, dragging Keith with him. 

Keith leaned against Red’s paw and smiled as the metal began to vibrate from her purring. Blue's contentment at that settled warm and heavy in Lance's mind. 

“The others’ bonds are colored with discord, but yours are not.”

Both Lance and Keith started, whirling around. An omnic _floated_ there, nine blue lights arranged in a grid on his faceplate. It's- his?- head tilted to the side. “My apologies, I did not intend to alarm you.”

“It's happening a lot today,” Keith deadpanned. “I heard you coming, I just didn't expect you to speak.”

The omnic nodded. “I am Tekartha Zenyatta.”

The title was familiar to Lance, but he couldn't place it. Keith, apparently, could. “I wouldn't have expected a Shambali with Overwatch.”

“Oh fuck me, you're a monk,” Lance swore. “I mean, shit- crap! Uh, hi. I'm Lance. McClain.”

Zenyatta’s laughter was bell-like. “Be at peace.” It felt enough like a blessing that Lance crossed himself. He may not be a devout Catholic, but his father was, and Lance had prayed enough over the past year that he would accept a blessing from wherever it came from. 

“What can we do for you, Tekartha?” Keith shifted self consciously, fluffy ears folding down to his scalp.

“I am curious: I sense more harmony between you and these lions than the others.”

Keith's shoulders hunched and his ears flattened further. “Our team had a fight a few months ago. Words were said that we all wish we could take back.”

“I regret nothing,” Lance said flatly. “They called you a traitor. They're lucky words were all I used.”

“We certainly deserved worse.” Hunk had wandered over. “Yellow is forgiving, but she's still miffed I made a snap decision instead of listening. I wasn't exactly ‘caring and kind’ at the time.”

“You were the first to apologize,” Keith reminded him, his hands forming sloppy signs along with his words. Hunk reached over and gently corrected the position of his fingers. 

“That's ‘apologize’,” Hunk muttered, then pulled his hands back to sign for himself. “I feel like I should have done more.”

“We all should have,” Pidge said angrily, but she was mad at herself. It seemed everyone was flocking to them.

“The realization you have done wrong is the first step to improvement,” Zenyatta told her softly. “You cannot always receive forgiveness from those you have wronged, but you must forgive yourself.”

The Bright One is wise, Blue rumbled across the bond to Lance. I want to speak with it.

And she did. Lance felt her reach for the Omnic’s mind or processors or whatever, and Zenyatta vocalized a quiet “oh.”

Lance staggered under the weight of the extra mind in his bond. Zenyatta was _intense_ , and it almost hurt for a moment, but soon…

“Lance?”

“I think,” Lance started, staring in open awe, “that we have a chance.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, the plot moves

He wasn't hiding.

That would be ridiculous. Keith was the Red Paladin, right arm of Voltron, half-Galra soldier. He didn't _hide_ , not even from Zarkon himself. 

But Lance's family was loud.

It was instinct that drove Keith to tuck himself in the dimmest, most isolated corner he could find, an attempt to protect his sensitive hearing. It obviously had nothing to do with how easily Lance laughed now, after a year of Keith awkwardly trying and failing to much more than a chuckle. No correlation, of course, to the rapid Spanish he fell into with his uncle and Jesse as everyone planned and trained together. 

You are needlessly upset, kitten, Red sent across their bond. The Blue Paladin cares for you. You do your mate a disservice by doubting that.

Soft footsteps sounded down the hall, and Lance settled in the floor not far from Keith. “You okay, _bicho_?”

Keith flicked an ear. “That's a new one.”

“Eh, literally translated it's ‘bug’, but it's used as a pet name a lot back home. But you're changing the subject.”

“Loud, and I'm stuck again.”

Lance hummed his understanding. Sometimes Keith got ‘stuck’ as a Galra, unable to shift back to his more human appearance. Coran said it was expected while Keith’s quintessence stabilized from exposure to other Galra. 

He shifted closer, and Keith turned and sprawled across his lap. Keith never realized how much he craved touch until Lance was so free with casual contact. One hand started combing through Keith’s hair. A purr rumbled low in his chest.

The rare moment of peace was shattered by the alarms blaring through the castle. Keith’s ears flattened to muffle the sound, and he scrambled to his feet and ran, Lance a step behind him. The Blue Paladin was swearing under his breath because neither of them were in armor. 

They skidded into the bridge of the Castle, and Keith's ear pressed flat and he bared his teeth. On the monitor was a Galra, staring in Keith's direction with open disdain. 

“Half-breed,” the Galra sneered. A growl built in Keith's chest at the disgust in his tone. The Galra lifted his nose and turned to Allura. “Princess. I see you got our message.”

“You weren’t fuckin’ subtle, _muerdealmohadas_ ,” Lance spat. “And the ‘half-breed’ has a name.”

“Yes. Kayith.” Keith went very, very still. “His traitor of a father let that slip.”

Ice flooded Keith's veins, because he remembered a playful argument between his parents about his name, about ‘Keith’ being a close human equivalent to the Galra ‘Kayith’. No one but his parents knew that name, and his mother was long dead.

This man had his father.

The Galra on the screen continued, smug. “And, of course, records showed the the Champion was discovered with two other humans, and Zarkon was more than willing to lend them to me.”

Pidge’s shrill “No!” had both Galra flinching, and she immediately launched into frantic swearing. Shiro pulled her to side, his face one of horror.

“Oh, child, there's no need for that,” the Galra mocked. “I'll gladly hand them over, and leave the planet completely, in exchange for the Voltron lions.”

“Fuck you,” Lance hissed, wrapping one arm around Keith’s shoulders. “There's no fuckin’ way that's happening. Not a chance, you dickfaced cunt.”

The Galra snarled. “I am Admiral Porok of the Galra Empire-”

“Your mother was a whore!” Lance cut off. 

Porok’s fangs glinted in the low light of his ship. “You will pay for that, Paladin.” The transmission cut out.

Fear gripped Keith's heart as reality clicked into place. “They have _appa_. They have my father, no, no, I-”

“Keith?” Across the room, Shiro shifted a sobbing Pidge into Hunk’s embrace. “Keith, are you okay?”

“I'm gonna lose him too,” Keith choked. He couldn’t get enough air. “Oh god, I'm gonna be alone, I can't- I can’t-”

“ _Bicho, mi sol,_ hey, breathe for me.” Lance cupped his face, stroking his cheekbone with a thumb. “If you think for a second I'm letting some _culo_ keep Pidge’s family or your dad, you're wrong. Because I'm going up there and nailing that jackass between the eyes, _comprende_?” A soft kiss was pressed to Keith's nose. “I got my family back. Let's get yours.”

Pidge pushed out of Hunk’s arms and scurried to latch onto Keith. “We'll get ‘em, and they'll be fine. They have to be.” She tucked her face into Keith's jacket. “They have to be.”

“They will be, _chula, yo prometo_ ,” Lance muttered, moving one hand to ruffle her hair.

Keith almost believed him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Year, New Chapter

Gabriel snarled and scrambled to hold on as Lance jerked his Lion into another corkscrew movement. His nephew crowed excitedly. 

“Lance,” Shiro berated through the comms, tinny in Gabriel’s ear. Patching Overwatch comms into the Paladins’ channel had been an exercise in patience that had taken Hunk three hours and lots of violent signing. Lance had shaken his head when asked to translate, staring in wide-eyed awe.

“Yes, _**Papí**_ ,” Lance sassed, and Pidge giggled.

Gabriel opened his mouth to comment, but the Blue Lion broke the atmosphere, and the expanse of space stretched before him. 

“Pretty, isn't it?” Lance said, but there was sadness in his voice. “It just… keeps going. Forever.” He adjusted the controls, and the Lion turned smoothly.

The Galra ship came into view, dark metal and sharp angles. Over the comms, Shiro spoke again. “Alright, Allura, what's the plan?”

“There's no way to sneak on board, they know we have to be coming,” the princess said. She was back in her castle-ship, watching video feed from all five lions. “Even if we could form Voltron, it would just destroy the ship, which is not what we want. However, we might be able to fool them into thinking we would.”

“How so?” Hunk asked.

“You, Pidge, and Shiro attack. Draw their fire, target weapon systems and pretend to go for engines. Keith and Lance take their passengers into the ship-”

“Fuck that, I'm going too!” Pidge shouted. “What if they need Rover? If they have Keith's dad, maybe they programmed his DNA out of their scanners? I can get in, Allura!”

“She's right.” McCree, riding with Keith, spoke up. “I'm sure _Jefe_ and I can handle any trouble she misses.

Lance frowned at his control console. “She's got a point, guys, and her family is there.”

“Green says she'll keep fighting while I'm in the ship,” Pidge added.

“Alright,” Allura agreed after a short silence. “Be careful, all of you.”

“Of course, Princess,” Keith answered. “Lance, Pidge, ready to move in?”

“Let's go!” Lance cheered, and dropped Blue into a spiraling dive. The Galra ship spat out dozens of fighters. Keith and Red zipped over Blue, crested the line of fighters, and spewed fire. Lance shouted a warning to Gabe and flipped upside-down underneath the line, a cloud of ice freezing engines solid. 

The realization that this was a practiced tactic punched the breath from Gabriel’s lungs. He'd known the Paladins had been fighting for nearly a year, but seeing it in action was different. 

He'd never wanted his family to be soldiers. 

Keith pulled his Lion up, Lance right on his tail. “Pidge, have you ever done a docking maneuver with Lance and me?”

“No? But I've watched. When the ship lets out a wave of fighters, the particle barrier over the hangar takes a few seconds to boot back up. That's our window?”

“That's our window, _chula_ ,” Lance grinned. “Stick right to my side, ok? I gotchu.”

“”Barrier drop, all fighters out in eight ticks,” Shiro shouted, and Lance yanked the controls again, turning his Lion to face the ship once more. 

“On your left, Lance,” Pidge called. 

All three Lions shot forward, Lance and Pidge barely behind Keith, weaving through another swarm of fighters. The last smaller ship cleared the hangar, and Lance startled counting under his breath. Another pull on the controls, and the Lion shifted, going in sideways with Pidge closer to the hangar entrance. 

They slid in, the Red Lion already swiping at enemies with enormous metal paws. Her head lowered, jaws opened, and Keith leapt out, landing with a neat combat roll. Two approaching enemies were nailed by bullets as McCree fired from the Lion's mouth, clinging to a fang as long as his arm.

Lance unclipped his pilot harness and raced for the exit to the cockpit, his rifle bayard already in his hands. Gabriel wraithed ahead, dissipating into smoke. He had the neck of another enemy snapped before they could stop him- but instead of the _crack_ of bone, the sound of rending metal grated as the robot’s head came free.

“Doors sealed!” Keith shouted pulling his hand off a scanner near the door. “And I've got an idea. Pidge, explosives?”

“Always,” she answered. “You took out the drones without me. Also, McClain Senior is having an aneurysm.”

Gabriel still had the robot head in his hands. 

“Drones, Tío,” Lance said. “They're just metal and orders, not like omnics. They're not alive.” He look the chuck of machinery from Gabe and let it fall before turning back to Keith. “Why explosives, _bicho_?”

Beneath his helmet, Keith grinned, all sharp teeth and feral instinct. “Send the Lions out to do what the can without us. We'll take an escape pod out. Place charges on the power crystal, main engines, the airlocks, and blow the ship to bits when we're safe.”

“How will we get th’ charges placed without gettin” caught?” Jesse asked, reloading his six-shooter. 

“Me,” Gabe offered. “Can't stop what they can't catch. Just point me in the right direction.”

\--

Keith held his palm over the scanner to the door, eyes on the rest of his team. Lance’s uncle, Gabriel, nodded, and Keith slammed his hand down. The doors opened, and a cloud or smoke barrelled past the gathered drones. Pidge rushed and dropped into what looked like a baseball slide, the cord of her bayard tangling the legs of several drones and delivering a harsh shock,

Lance cursed loud enough to be heard over McCree’s six-shooter as he fired a volley of his own before sprinting towards Pidge, leaping over her to slam bodily into- oh shit, that was an _actual Galra_ grabbing onto Lance’s armor and throwing him into a wall. Keith ran into the fray himself, sword slicing a drone in half before neatly catching the Galra officer’s blade in a bock. 

“Half breed,” the officer snarled.

“Find some better insults,” Keith countered, knocking the other blade aside before he was caught in a battle of strength he would likely lose. From the corner of his eye, he noted that Pidge had gone to cover Lance while the Blue Paladin regained his wits.

“Cover,” McCree shouted, and Keith split his attention to seal his helmet. The officer pressed the momentary advantage, shoving Keith back a second before a flashbang went off between them. The Galra howled and dropped his sword to claw at his ears, and Lance put three shots in his chest. 

Pidge scurried over to help Keith to his feet, pointedly not looking at the body behind her. Drones, they’d learned, Pidge could take apart in an instant, but an actual living thing? She couldn’t handle.

“That went better than usual,” McCree said.

“We’re not done yet,” Lance told him, gesturing for Keith to close the door to the hangar. Once that was sealed, the Lions would destroy the generator for the hangar’s particle barrier and rejoin the fight outside.

The freedom of flight lit the back of Keith’s mind, bleeding over from Red. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I broke the rescue into parts to keep a consistent chapter length. Sorry?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that new season, right? I'm fucking wrecked, but the Blade of Marmora!!!!! They are def playing a role in the sequel.

Keith hated how at home he felt in Galra ships. The lighting was calibrated perfectly for his sensitive eyes, and the engines’ steady thrum was soothing at the edge of his hearing, even in his current human form. His thoughts were never more clear than in places designed to house the Galra people.

His people.

Red rumbled in the back of his mind, clearing the anxiety from him. Of course he felt calm here, these ships were built to keep Galra relaxed and happy. Now was not the time to despair over it, now was the time to focus on the task at hand.

Keith skidded to a stop, taking a breath, centering himself. Lance immediately moved into position to cover him, his bayard raised. Pidge and McCree stopped as well, their heart rates picking up with anxiety.

Keith could hear everything in the nearby hallways: the metallic clangs of drones, the softer swishing steps of other Galra. Another deep breath; patience yields focus. They were too close, but many were heading towards the bridge, while a few were going deeper into the bowels of the ship. He couldn’t hear words, until a shouted “guard the traitor, that’s where they’re going!” 

There, those hurried steps rushed off to Keith’s right, the hallway they followed a few meters ahead. “This way,” he said. 

Pidge moved to the spot at Keith's hip, her bayard humming with electricity. “Let's get our families.” Over her shoulder, Rover chirred in agreement, soft and mechanical. 

Keith nodded. “Lance, there's no place for a sniper's nest, will you be-”

“Please, _bicho_ , who do you think I am?” Lance grinned, confident, a spark of mischief in his eyes. “C’mon, I gotta meet my father-in-law.”

The reference to a joke that seemed so old now, so far away, brought a smile to Keith's face. It would be okay, he was sure of it. Whatever happened, they could handle it.  
\--

Two laser shots cut through Gabriel’s wraith form. He pulled himself together, shotguns in hand, and the Galra the fired paused.

“Quiznak,” they spat. “You're human. I didn't know humans could do that. I thought you were one of the Druids’ new experiments.” They lowered their weapon. “If you're here, there isn't much time. Thace is one of ours. Marmora. There's two others of us on the ship, counting myself.”

“One of yours?” Gabriel kept his gun leveled at the alien. “A traitor?”

“You could say that.” They reached into their armor and pulled out a piece of dark metal. “Get this to Thace and his child. I need to find my partner and get off this ship.”

Gabe reached to take the chip, tucked it in his pocket. The Galra nodded, then smirked and pressed his hand to a scanner. “This corridor will take you straight to the power crystal. Good luck.” 

Gabe dissolved into smoke once more.  
\--

Another shot pinged off Keith's shield. “Pidge,” he hissed.

“I know, I know,” she said, hands dancing over a holographic keyboard. “Rover and I are going as fast as we can.”

“ _Dale, chula_ , we can't hold this position long,” Lance urged.

“If I didn't need both hands, I'd hit you,” Pidge answered. “What part of _I'm going as fast as I can_ did you not understand? Should I say it in Spanish?”

Lance ducked around the corner, dropped three drones in three shots, and came back into cover. “You don’t know how.”

“ _Chingate,_ ” Pidge snapped back, and Lance made a noise of pride.

The sharp crack of McCree’s six shooter was followed by the thump of a crumpling Galra. “One day y’all should meet Sombra.”

Keith was about to ask who ‘Sombra’ was when Pidge let out a triumphant shout.

“Who's the best?” she crowed. “It's Katie ‘Pidge’ Holt, that's who. Holding cells are free game!” 

Lance pulled up his shield and moved beside Keith, widening the safe area, and McCree combat rolled behind them. The cowboy hooked an arm around Pidge’s waist and lifted her up, carrying her past the previously sealed bulkhead. Keith and Lance backed beyond the threshold, Lance laying cover fire. Pidge twisted and shot her bayard at the control panel, frying the circuits, and the bulkhead slammed shut.

“That should buy us some time,” she said, squirming free of McCree’s grasp. Rover chirped brightly above her head. “C’mon.” She turned and headed down the corridor. 

It was suddenly all too real. Keith hadn't seen his father in ten years, what if things had changed? What if his father didn't recognize him? What if-

“Hey.” Lance took Keith’s hand in his own, squeezing gently. “It's okay, _querido_. It'll be fine.” The Blue Paladin smiled encouragingly, and Keith breathed deep to steady his nerves.

“Okay,” he said. “Let's go.”

Pidge led the way, calling out for her father and brother. “Matt! Dad! Where are you? Matt!”

Near the end of the corridor, a shout answered. “Katie? Katie, is that you?”

“Dad!” Pidge shrieked. She sprinted, Keith hot on her heels, and skid to a stop in front of the door, pressed her hands flat against the dark metal. “Dad? Matt?” 

“We’re here,” the voice from before said. “Me, Matt, and… someone else. Katie, what are doing here? How are you-”

“I’ll explain later, I promise.” Pidge waved Rover forward, and the little drone set to opening the door. “Dad, who else is there?”

“A Galra.” This was a different voice. “I think he’s on our side. He’s in bad shape, Katie, I hope you brought friends.”

“She did,” Keith replied. Rover beeped as the hand sensor popped up on the door’s control panel, and Keith pressed his palm against it before he could think about it. The door slid open, and Pidge launched herself at one of the men inside with a sob. McCree headed for the back wall, where Keith assumed Matt was sitting next to a injured Galra.

Thace was unconscious, breathing shallow, and Keith’s own breath caught in his chest. McCree carefully lifted Thace in a fireman’s carry, thankfully tall enough to pull it off. The cowboy turned to Matt and asked, “You need any help walkin’?”

“No,” Matt answered, struggling to his feet, eyes locked on his sister.

Lance cleared his throat from his place guarding the door. “I get that Pidge hasn’t seen her family in a while, but we gotta go.”

“Pidge?” Pidge’s father looked at her.

She rubbed tears from her cheeks. “It’s a nickname. I’ll explain it, too. But Lance is right, we need to go.” She grabbed her father’s hand and pulled him into the corridor, Matt right behind. McCree adjusted his grip on Thace and followed.

“Alright, _chula_ , you’re the one with the robot. Is there another way out of here? Back the way we came isn’t an option.” Lance kept his bayard pointed the direction they’d come.

Rover trilled. “Rover says there’s maintenance tunnels just ahead. It’ll be difficult, but we should make it back to our Lions.”  
\--

Gabriel fired into the drones converging on the hangar bay. He’d made it back before the others and was trying to keep it clear. The Lions themselves were probably pretty safe, if the shielding around them was anything to go by, but that meant nothing if they couldn’t actually get to them.

A panel on one of the walls slid open and stepped out, aiming and dropping a drone in less then a second. “Matt, Mister Holt, head for the Blue Lion. She’ll let you in. _Tío_ , you’re with Keith this time.”

The fight to get back in the Lions was brief and violent. Once inside, Keith turned his Lion to the bay doors and melted a hole with a torrent of fire. 

The Black and Yellow Lions pulled away from the hull of the ship. In the distance, he caught a glimpse of a small pod. The two friendlies must have gotten clear.

He detonated the explosives left behind, and the ship went up in flames.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Dale_ is Cuban slang for "let's go"
> 
> One chapter left before With Violets draws to an end, but I am in no way finished with this au, so keep an eye on the series!


End file.
